Yorktown To Receive $1M As Compensation For Park Closing

YORKTOWN, NY — As compensation for the three-month closure of Woodlands Legacy Fields because of a sinkhole that opened up on Christmas Eve, the town of Yorktown will be paid $1,050,000 by the company that operates the Algonquin Gas Pipeline.

Supervisor Tom Diana negotiated the compensation with Enbridge, the pipeline’s operator, according to a town spokesperson.

“Enbridge is making a good-faith payment to the people of Yorktown for inadvertently depriving them of the use of this popular park,” he said. “I thank Enbridge for its corporate responsibility to communities that are hosts to the company’s pipelines.”

The park had to be closed Christmas Eve when a sinkhole formed in the park at the pipeline’s right-of-way.

Enbridge poured fill materials into the sinkhole to make sure there was support for the pipeline.

Officials from Enbridge are scheduled to attend a Town Board meeting April 18 to report on their response.

The company will conduct semi-weekly aerial patrols of the gas line right-of-way, monthly site visits and electrical resistance surveys to ensure new sinkholes do not form.

The park reopened April 1 coinciding with the beginning of little league baseball games at the park.